Startup Act, fraud and flex
What went down in tech between March 6th - 10th 2023
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12 States begin implementation of the Nigerian startup Act
Out of Nigeria's 36 states, only twelve—Kaduna, Lagos, Kwara, Ekiti, Anambra, Imo, Niger, Nassarawa, Oyo, Rivers, Osun and Zamfara—have indicated interest to domesticate the Act.
This comes after Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law to drive growth for the country's tech and startup ecosystem in October 2022.
The Nigeria Startup Act was ranked first among the four other African startup laws—Senegal, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and Kenya—in a 2022 report by TechHive and Ikigai in terms of their scope, label and governance, incentives, and enforcement.
Analysts claim that the Act has not been fully implemented in the nation since the presidential assent in October 2022. In the Nigeria Startup Act secretariat, Tracy Okoro, the State Adoption Lead, said, "I think that the whole country has been fully focused on the elections.”
The implementation committee and creation of the Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship which is a core part of the Act was inaugurated March 8 2023 by Nigeria minister of communication and digital economy.
Minister of communication and digital economy and the members of the NSA implementation committee
In addition to giving broad guidance for the harmonisation of laws and regulations that affect startups, the council is in charge of formulating and providing general policy directions for the fulfilment of the Act's objectives.
Osun state waives right of way fees
Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun state, cancels the right of way fees as part of his digital economy policy, allowing telecom companies and internet providers to lay fibre optic cables for free.
Right-of-way fees are a sensitive issue between state governments and Nigeria's telecoms commission. The state is wagering that eliminating them will increase broadband adoption.
In Osun state, there were 3.5 million active internet subscriptions in Q1 2021, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The data does not reflect 4G or broadband coverage in the state. Nonetheless, it is evident that any state that wishes to become a major participant in the technology industry and draw startups must have good broadband penetration. Nigeria has only 45% broadband penetration, thus it is still a problem on a worldwide scale.
The installation of fiber optic cables around Yaba was one of the crucial first steps in the development of Lagos' tech economy. When Main One started constructing a 27-kilometer fiber optic connection to reach the Yaba area in 2013, many entrepreneurs decided to set up shop there. Osun anticipates similar outcomes.
Waiving right-of-way charges is still only one component in getting companies to come to a state. Hence, Osun State is creating its first ICT strategy, and key components of this policy will localize the Startup Act, focusing on the digital economy.
"As part of our quest for a digital economy, Osun is poised to be the first State to domesticate the Nigerian Startup Act," the governor of Osun state said. The Act is set up to guarantee that new start-up promoters and business owners receive the appropriate mentoring and funding.
Money stolen from flutterwave
The accounts of African fintech unicorn Flutterwave have allegedly had $2,949,557,867 fraudulently transferred from them, according to papers reviewed by Techpoint Africa.
Albert Onimole, Flutterwave's legal representative, reported the incident to the State Criminal Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, on February 19, 2023.
According to Onimole, the accounts of Flutterwave were breached about two weeks ago, on February 13. The reports also says the money was initially distributed across 63 transactions among 28 accounts.
The list of accounts that had received the money and the occurrence were reported to the police on February 13, 2023, but the cash could not be frozen at the time. In his letter, Onimole accuses some commercial banks of enabling the transfer of funds to additional accounts, which widened the money trail.
But Flutterwave officially denies the breach, claiming, "We found an odd pattern of transactions on some users' profiles. In accordance with our regular operating process, our staff conducted an investigation right away, which found that some users who had not turned on all of our advised security settings might have been vulnerable.
According to the statement, Flutterwave was able to fix the problem before any damage was done to its users.
We are glad that our security mechanisms were able to address the issue before any harm could be done to our users, and we wish to reaffirm that no users lost any money.
Miva, uLesson online open university
uLesson is extending its offerings to include higher education in Africa after four years of offering online K–12 education there. The pan-African remote learning institution Miva Open University is being established by the Nigerian edtech.
Iheanyi Akwitti, Senior Vice President, Academics at Miva, stated that the university will have a complete authorization to grant degrees. According to the university's website, it will provide undergraduate courses in software engineering, data science, cyber security, and computer science. Moreover, it features a school of management and social science offering degrees in public administration, economics, accounting, and business management.
Their goal, according to Shagaya(CEO of uLesson) is to offer affordable, excellent education that enables our students to thrive in the contemporary digital economy.
A vice-chancellor position at Miva University is currently open for hiring. To qualify, candidates must hold a PhD and have at least ten years of senior leadership experience. Mary Efretei-Ogunkoya, Head of People at Miva, continued, "We need passionate people who will help us revolutionize the tertiary education environment.
Nigeria green lights open banking
Nigeria has adopted open banking legislation as the first nation in Africa, which will promote innovation in the nation's financial sector. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adopted the open banking rules and regulations in a circular dated March 7, 2023. The operational standards define the requirements for dealing with client data by banks and other financial organizations.
Assuring uniformity and security throughout the open banking system, the rule also lays forth duties and expectations for the various participants (banks, outside financial organizations, and customers). Also, a description of the minimal standards for participants is given, outlining the safeguards for the stability of the financial system under an open banking system.
What's the term?
Open banking is a technique that enables financial institutions to share customer information with other service providers, such as fintechs and mobile money operators, who will use the information to develop products that promote financial inclusion and innovation in Nigeria. APIs are used to share the data, which can only be done with the customer's permission.
The Big tech flex
Flutterwave founder and CEO, Olugbenga Agboola just purchased a $7.1m six bedroom, seven bathroom Miami beach house.
The house was previously owned by a real estate development company, Boschetti Group that bought the land for $1.2m in 2021 and finished building works 2022.
Olugbenga founded Flutterwave in 2016 to streamline payments for businesses around the world and has since then raised $474.5m in funding, valuing the company at $3 billion.
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